This book is the first full account in more than 20 years of two significant, but relatively understudied, laws passed during the Civil War. The Confiscation Acts (1861–62) were designed to sanction ...
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This book is the first full account in more than 20 years of two significant, but relatively understudied, laws passed during the Civil War. The Confiscation Acts (1861–62) were designed to sanction slave holding states by authorizing the Federal Government to seize rebel properties (including land and other assets held in Northern and border states) and grant freedom to slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military. Abraham Lincoln objected to the Acts for fear they might push border states, particularly Missouri and Kentucky, into secession. The Acts were eventually rendered moot by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. The author examines the political contexts of the Acts, especially the debates in Congress, and demonstrates how the failure of the Confiscation Acts during the war presaged the political and structural shortcomings of Reconstruction after the war.Less

The Civil War Confiscation Acts : Failing to Reconstruct the South

John Syrett

Published in print: 2005-04-15

This book is the first full account in more than 20 years of two significant, but relatively understudied, laws passed during the Civil War. The Confiscation Acts (1861–62) were designed to sanction slave holding states by authorizing the Federal Government to seize rebel properties (including land and other assets held in Northern and border states) and grant freedom to slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military. Abraham Lincoln objected to the Acts for fear they might push border states, particularly Missouri and Kentucky, into secession. The Acts were eventually rendered moot by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. The author examines the political contexts of the Acts, especially the debates in Congress, and demonstrates how the failure of the Confiscation Acts during the war presaged the political and structural shortcomings of Reconstruction after the war.

This collection of essays shows how the constitutional aspects of the Civil War were part of American politics for a long time before and after the conflict by examining developments from the ...
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This collection of essays shows how the constitutional aspects of the Civil War were part of American politics for a long time before and after the conflict by examining developments from the founding era to the Progressive era. The contributors, both political theorists and historians, consider constitutional issues leading to the Civil War, the crucial role of Abraham Lincoln's statesmanship, and how the constitutional aspects of the War and Reconstruction endured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The authors range widely: from George Washington's conception of the Union and his fears for its future to Martin Van Buren's state-centered, anti-secessionist federalism; from Lincoln's approach to citizenship for African-Americans to Woodrow Wilson's attempt to appropriate Lincoln for the goals of Progressivism. Each topic involves the constitutional causes or consequences of the War, and the authors emphasize how constitutional ideas shape political activity and are not merely derived from other processes. This shared approach shows that constitutional principles are in this sense “configurative” of political life. Accordingly, the chapters place important figures, disputes, and judicial decisions within the broader context of the constitutional system. The aim is to explain how ideas and institutions, independently and in dialogue with the courts, have oriented political action and shaped events over time. This approach is particularly appropriate to the subject matter because the constitutional conflicts resulting in the Civil War roiled just under the surface of American politics since the founding, and reverberated for generations after the fighting ceased.Less

Constitutionalism in the Approach and Aftermath of the Civil War

Published in print: 2013-08-01

This collection of essays shows how the constitutional aspects of the Civil War were part of American politics for a long time before and after the conflict by examining developments from the founding era to the Progressive era. The contributors, both political theorists and historians, consider constitutional issues leading to the Civil War, the crucial role of Abraham Lincoln's statesmanship, and how the constitutional aspects of the War and Reconstruction endured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The authors range widely: from George Washington's conception of the Union and his fears for its future to Martin Van Buren's state-centered, anti-secessionist federalism; from Lincoln's approach to citizenship for African-Americans to Woodrow Wilson's attempt to appropriate Lincoln for the goals of Progressivism. Each topic involves the constitutional causes or consequences of the War, and the authors emphasize how constitutional ideas shape political activity and are not merely derived from other processes. This shared approach shows that constitutional principles are in this sense “configurative” of political life. Accordingly, the chapters place important figures, disputes, and judicial decisions within the broader context of the constitutional system. The aim is to explain how ideas and institutions, independently and in dialogue with the courts, have oriented political action and shaped events over time. This approach is particularly appropriate to the subject matter because the constitutional conflicts resulting in the Civil War roiled just under the surface of American politics since the founding, and reverberated for generations after the fighting ceased.

During the Civil War, there were throughout the Union explosions of resistance to the war–from the deadly Draft Riots in New York City to other, less well-known outbreaks. In this book, the author ...
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During the Civil War, there were throughout the Union explosions of resistance to the war–from the deadly Draft Riots in New York City to other, less well-known outbreaks. In this book, the author explores one of these least known inner civil wars, the widespread, sometimes violent opposition in the Appalachian lumber country of Pennsylvania. Sparsely settled, these mountains were home to divided communities that provided a safe-haven for opponents of the war. The dissent of mountain folk reflected their own marginality in the face of rapidly increasing exploitation of timber resources by big firms, as well as partisan debates over loyalty. One of the few studies of the northern Appalachians, this book draws revealing parallels to the War in the southern mountains, exploring the roots of rural protest in frontier development, the market economy, military policy, partisan debate, and everyday resistance. The author also sheds new light on the party politics of rural resistance, rejecting easy depictions of war-opponents as traitors and malcontents for a more nuanced and complicated study of the class, economic upheaval, and localism.Less

Deserter Country : Civil War Opposition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians

Robert M. Sandow

Published in print: 2009-05-22

During the Civil War, there were throughout the Union explosions of resistance to the war–from the deadly Draft Riots in New York City to other, less well-known outbreaks. In this book, the author explores one of these least known inner civil wars, the widespread, sometimes violent opposition in the Appalachian lumber country of Pennsylvania. Sparsely settled, these mountains were home to divided communities that provided a safe-haven for opponents of the war. The dissent of mountain folk reflected their own marginality in the face of rapidly increasing exploitation of timber resources by big firms, as well as partisan debates over loyalty. One of the few studies of the northern Appalachians, this book draws revealing parallels to the War in the southern mountains, exploring the roots of rural protest in frontier development, the market economy, military policy, partisan debate, and everyday resistance. The author also sheds new light on the party politics of rural resistance, rejecting easy depictions of war-opponents as traitors and malcontents for a more nuanced and complicated study of the class, economic upheaval, and localism.

One hundred and forty years after his assassination on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln towers more than ever above the landscape of American politics. In myth and memory, he is always the Great ...
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One hundred and forty years after his assassination on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln towers more than ever above the landscape of American politics. In myth and memory, he is always the Great Emancipator and savior of the Union, second in stature only to George Washington. But was Lincoln always so exalted? Was he, as some historians argue, a poor President, deeply disliked, whose legacy was ennobled only by John Wilkes Booth's bullet? In this fascinating book, a leading historian finally takes the full measure of Lincoln's reputation. Drawing on a remarkable range of primary documents—speeches, newspaper accounts and editorials, private letters, memoirs, and other sources—the book gives us the voices of Lincoln's own time. From North and South, at home and abroad, here are politicians and ordinary people, soldiers and statesmen, abolitionists and slaveholders alike, in a rich chorus of American opinion. The result is a masterly portrait of Lincoln the President in the eyes of his fellow Americans.Less

First Among Equals : Abraham Lincoln's Reputation During His Administration

Hans L. Trefousse

Published in print: 2005-04-01

One hundred and forty years after his assassination on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln towers more than ever above the landscape of American politics. In myth and memory, he is always the Great Emancipator and savior of the Union, second in stature only to George Washington. But was Lincoln always so exalted? Was he, as some historians argue, a poor President, deeply disliked, whose legacy was ennobled only by John Wilkes Booth's bullet? In this fascinating book, a leading historian finally takes the full measure of Lincoln's reputation. Drawing on a remarkable range of primary documents—speeches, newspaper accounts and editorials, private letters, memoirs, and other sources—the book gives us the voices of Lincoln's own time. From North and South, at home and abroad, here are politicians and ordinary people, soldiers and statesmen, abolitionists and slaveholders alike, in a rich chorus of American opinion. The result is a masterly portrait of Lincoln the President in the eyes of his fellow Americans.

Through informative case studies, this illuminating book remaps considerations of the Civil War and reconstruction era by charting the ways in which the needs, interests, and ...
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Through informative case studies, this illuminating book remaps considerations of the Civil War and reconstruction era by charting the ways in which the needs, interests, and experiences of going to war, fighting it, and making sense of it informed and directed politics, public life, social change, and cultural memory after the war's end. In doing so, it shows that the war did not actually end with Lee's surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln's assassination in Washington. As the chapters show, major issues remained, including defining freedom; rebuilding the South; integrating women and blacks into postwar society, culture, and politics; deciding the place of the military in public life; demobilizing or redeploying soldiers; organizing a new party system; and determining the scope and meanings of union.Less

The Great Task Remaining Before Us : Reconstruction as America's Continuing Civil War

Published in print: 2010-07-08

Through informative case studies, this illuminating book remaps considerations of the Civil War and reconstruction era by charting the ways in which the needs, interests, and experiences of going to war, fighting it, and making sense of it informed and directed politics, public life, social change, and cultural memory after the war's end. In doing so, it shows that the war did not actually end with Lee's surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln's assassination in Washington. As the chapters show, major issues remained, including defining freedom; rebuilding the South; integrating women and blacks into postwar society, culture, and politics; deciding the place of the military in public life; demobilizing or redeploying soldiers; organizing a new party system; and determining the scope and meanings of union.

This book of original essays on “Lincoln and Leadership,” by leading Lincoln and Civil War scholars, explores Lincoln’s understandings and uses of leadership during the Civil War. The essays focus ...
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This book of original essays on “Lincoln and Leadership,” by leading Lincoln and Civil War scholars, explores Lincoln’s understandings and uses of leadership during the Civil War. The essays focus especially on Lincoln as Commander in Chief and war president, as party leader, and as moral guide by looking at his talents and practices in decision-making in critical moments of his presidency. They assess the myths of Lincoln by examining his ability to understand and direct military strategy, communicate with military men, shape public opinion, manage party affairs, move himself and the nation toward emancipation as policy and then as fact, accept the use of black troops, grapple with the moral and religious meaning of the war, empathize with the sufferings of his people, and explain the purpose of the war to the nation and posterity. They emphasize Lincoln’s ability to establish priorities, most especially the preservation of the Union and democratic government at all costs and the realization of the promise of freedom embodied in the Declaration of Independence, which gave Lincoln a unity of purpose and clarity that informed and emboldened his leadership, while they also show Lincoln’s flexibility as to means, which gave Lincoln the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, deal with contending interests, and gain support for his policies.Less

Lincoln and Leadership : Military, Political, and Religious Decision Making

Published in print: 2012-08-14

This book of original essays on “Lincoln and Leadership,” by leading Lincoln and Civil War scholars, explores Lincoln’s understandings and uses of leadership during the Civil War. The essays focus especially on Lincoln as Commander in Chief and war president, as party leader, and as moral guide by looking at his talents and practices in decision-making in critical moments of his presidency. They assess the myths of Lincoln by examining his ability to understand and direct military strategy, communicate with military men, shape public opinion, manage party affairs, move himself and the nation toward emancipation as policy and then as fact, accept the use of black troops, grapple with the moral and religious meaning of the war, empathize with the sufferings of his people, and explain the purpose of the war to the nation and posterity. They emphasize Lincoln’s ability to establish priorities, most especially the preservation of the Union and democratic government at all costs and the realization of the promise of freedom embodied in the Declaration of Independence, which gave Lincoln a unity of purpose and clarity that informed and emboldened his leadership, while they also show Lincoln’s flexibility as to means, which gave Lincoln the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, deal with contending interests, and gain support for his policies.

The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most prominent events in U.S. history. It continues to attract enormous and intense interest from scholars, writers, and armchair ...
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The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most prominent events in U.S. history. It continues to attract enormous and intense interest from scholars, writers, and armchair historians alike, ranging from painstaking new research to wild-eyed speculation. Written at the end of the Lincoln bicentennial year, and the onset of the Civil War sesquicentennial, this book offers the latest studies and arguments about the assassination, its aftermath, the extraordinary public reaction (which was more complex than has been previously believed), and the iconography that Lincoln's murder and deification inspired. Chapters also offer up-to-date accounts of the parallel legal event of the summer of 1865—the relentless pursuit, prosecution, and punishment of the conspirators. Everything from graphic tributes to religious sermons, to spontaneous outbursts on the streets of the nation's cities, to emotional mass-mourning at carefully organized funerals, as well as the imposition of military jurisprudence to try the conspirators, is examined in the light of fresh evidence and insightful analysis.Less

The Lincoln Assassination : Crime and Punishment, Myth and Memory A Lincoln Forum Book

Published in print: 2010-06-07

The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most prominent events in U.S. history. It continues to attract enormous and intense interest from scholars, writers, and armchair historians alike, ranging from painstaking new research to wild-eyed speculation. Written at the end of the Lincoln bicentennial year, and the onset of the Civil War sesquicentennial, this book offers the latest studies and arguments about the assassination, its aftermath, the extraordinary public reaction (which was more complex than has been previously believed), and the iconography that Lincoln's murder and deification inspired. Chapters also offer up-to-date accounts of the parallel legal event of the summer of 1865—the relentless pursuit, prosecution, and punishment of the conspirators. Everything from graphic tributes to religious sermons, to spontaneous outbursts on the streets of the nation's cities, to emotional mass-mourning at carefully organized funerals, as well as the imposition of military jurisprudence to try the conspirators, is examined in the light of fresh evidence and insightful analysis.

In February 2009, America celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and the pace of new Lincoln books and articles has already quickened. From his cabinet's politics to his own ...
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In February 2009, America celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and the pace of new Lincoln books and articles has already quickened. From his cabinet's politics to his own struggles with depression, Lincoln remains the most written-about story in our history. Each year historians find something new and important to say about the greatest of our Presidents. This is a guidebook to what is new and what is noteworthy in this unfolding story — a gathering of fresh scholarship by Lincoln historians of our time. Brought together by The Lincoln Forum, they tackle uncharted territory and emerging questions; they also take a new look at established debates — including those about their own landmark works. Here, historians revisit key chapters in Lincoln's legacy — from Matthew Pinsker on Lincoln's private life and Jean Baker on religion and the Lincoln marriage to Geoffrey Perret on Lincoln as leader and Frank J. Williams on Lincoln and civil liberties in wartime. The eighteen essays explore every corner of Lincoln's world — religion and politics, slavery and sovereignty, presidential leadership and the rule of law, the Second Inaugural Address and the assassination. In his 1947 classic, Lincoln Reconsidered, David Herbert Donald confronted the Lincoln myth. Today, the scholars in this study give a new generation of students, scholars, and citizens the perspectives vital for understanding the constantly reinterpreted genius of Abraham Lincoln.Less

Lincoln Revisited : New Insights from the Lincoln Forum

Harold HolzerDawn Vogel

Published in print: 2007-05-31

In February 2009, America celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and the pace of new Lincoln books and articles has already quickened. From his cabinet's politics to his own struggles with depression, Lincoln remains the most written-about story in our history. Each year historians find something new and important to say about the greatest of our Presidents. This is a guidebook to what is new and what is noteworthy in this unfolding story — a gathering of fresh scholarship by Lincoln historians of our time. Brought together by The Lincoln Forum, they tackle uncharted territory and emerging questions; they also take a new look at established debates — including those about their own landmark works. Here, historians revisit key chapters in Lincoln's legacy — from Matthew Pinsker on Lincoln's private life and Jean Baker on religion and the Lincoln marriage to Geoffrey Perret on Lincoln as leader and Frank J. Williams on Lincoln and civil liberties in wartime. The eighteen essays explore every corner of Lincoln's world — religion and politics, slavery and sovereignty, presidential leadership and the rule of law, the Second Inaugural Address and the assassination. In his 1947 classic, Lincoln Reconsidered, David Herbert Donald confronted the Lincoln myth. Today, the scholars in this study give a new generation of students, scholars, and citizens the perspectives vital for understanding the constantly reinterpreted genius of Abraham Lincoln.

New Men examines the reentry into civilian life of Civil War soldiers and exposes a growing gap between how former soldiers saw themselves and the representations of them created by ...
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New Men examines the reentry into civilian life of Civil War soldiers and exposes a growing gap between how former soldiers saw themselves and the representations of them created by late-nineteenth-century American society. In the early years following the Civil War, the concept of the “veteran” functioned as a marker for what was assumed by soldiers and civilians alike to be a temporary social status that ended definitively with army demobilization and the successful attainment of civilian employment. Over time this term was reconstructed to represent a new identity distinct from that of the civilian population. Uncovering the tension between veterans and civilians in the postwar era adds a new dimension to our understanding of the legacy of the Civil War. Reconstruction involved more than simply the road to reunion and its attendant conflicts over race relations in the United States. It also pointed toward the frustrating search for a proper metaphor to explain what soldiers had endured. This halting search helps clarify the persistent description of the Civil War by literary critics as an unwritten war, and serves as a harbinger for our experience representing veterans today as they come home from the battlefield.Less

New Men : Reconstructing the Image of the Veteran in Late-Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture

John Casey

Published in print: 2015-04-01

New Men examines the reentry into civilian life of Civil War soldiers and exposes a growing gap between how former soldiers saw themselves and the representations of them created by late-nineteenth-century American society. In the early years following the Civil War, the concept of the “veteran” functioned as a marker for what was assumed by soldiers and civilians alike to be a temporary social status that ended definitively with army demobilization and the successful attainment of civilian employment. Over time this term was reconstructed to represent a new identity distinct from that of the civilian population. Uncovering the tension between veterans and civilians in the postwar era adds a new dimension to our understanding of the legacy of the Civil War. Reconstruction involved more than simply the road to reunion and its attendant conflicts over race relations in the United States. It also pointed toward the frustrating search for a proper metaphor to explain what soldiers had endured. This halting search helps clarify the persistent description of the Civil War by literary critics as an unwritten war, and serves as a harbinger for our experience representing veterans today as they come home from the battlefield.

In On the Edge of Freedom, David G. Smith breaks new ground by illuminating the unique development of antislavery sentiment in south central Pennsylvania—a border region of a border state with a ...
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In On the Edge of Freedom, David G. Smith breaks new ground by illuminating the unique development of antislavery sentiment in south central Pennsylvania—a border region of a border state with a complicated history of slavery, antislavery activism, and unequal freedom. During the antebellum decades every single fugitive slave escaping by land east of the Appalachian Mountains had to pass through the region, where they faced both significant opportunities and substantial risks. While the hundreds of fugitives traveling through south central Pennsylvania (defined as Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland counties) during this period were aided by an effective Underground Railroad, they also faced slave catchers and informers. “Underground” work such as helping fugitive slaves appealed to border antislavery activists who shied away from agitating for immediate abolition in a region with social, economic, and kinship ties to the South. And, as early antislavery protests met fierce resistance, area activists adopted a less confrontational approach, employing the more traditional political tools of the petition and legal action. Smith traces the victories of antislavery activists in south central Pennsylvania, including the achievement of a strong personal liberty law and the aggressive prosecution of kidnappers who seized innocent African Americans as fugitives. He also documents how their success provoked Southern retaliation and the passage of a strengthened Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. The Civil War then intensified the debate over fugitive slaves, as hundreds of escaping slaves, called “contrabands,” sought safety in the area, and scores were recaptured by the Confederate army during the Gettysburg campaign. On the Edge of Freedom explores in captivating detail the fugitive slave issue through fifty years of sectional conflict, war, and reconstruction in south central Pennsylvania and provocatively questions what was gained by the activists’ pragmatic approach of emphasizing fugitive slaves over immediate abolition and full equality. Smith argues that after the war, social and demographic changes in southern Pennsylvania worked against African Americans’ achieving equal opportunity, and although local literature portrayed this area as a vanguard of the Underground Railroad, African Americans still lived “on the edge of freedom.” By the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was rallying near the Gettysburg battlefield, and south central Pennsylvania became, in some ways, as segregated as the Jim Crow South. The fugitive slave issue, by reinforcing images of dependency, may have actually worked against the achievement of lasting social change.Less

On the Edge of Freedom : The Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1820–1870

David G. Smith

Published in print: 2012-10-10

In On the Edge of Freedom, David G. Smith breaks new ground by illuminating the unique development of antislavery sentiment in south central Pennsylvania—a border region of a border state with a complicated history of slavery, antislavery activism, and unequal freedom. During the antebellum decades every single fugitive slave escaping by land east of the Appalachian Mountains had to pass through the region, where they faced both significant opportunities and substantial risks. While the hundreds of fugitives traveling through south central Pennsylvania (defined as Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland counties) during this period were aided by an effective Underground Railroad, they also faced slave catchers and informers. “Underground” work such as helping fugitive slaves appealed to border antislavery activists who shied away from agitating for immediate abolition in a region with social, economic, and kinship ties to the South. And, as early antislavery protests met fierce resistance, area activists adopted a less confrontational approach, employing the more traditional political tools of the petition and legal action. Smith traces the victories of antislavery activists in south central Pennsylvania, including the achievement of a strong personal liberty law and the aggressive prosecution of kidnappers who seized innocent African Americans as fugitives. He also documents how their success provoked Southern retaliation and the passage of a strengthened Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. The Civil War then intensified the debate over fugitive slaves, as hundreds of escaping slaves, called “contrabands,” sought safety in the area, and scores were recaptured by the Confederate army during the Gettysburg campaign. On the Edge of Freedom explores in captivating detail the fugitive slave issue through fifty years of sectional conflict, war, and reconstruction in south central Pennsylvania and provocatively questions what was gained by the activists’ pragmatic approach of emphasizing fugitive slaves over immediate abolition and full equality. Smith argues that after the war, social and demographic changes in southern Pennsylvania worked against African Americans’ achieving equal opportunity, and although local literature portrayed this area as a vanguard of the Underground Railroad, African Americans still lived “on the edge of freedom.” By the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was rallying near the Gettysburg battlefield, and south central Pennsylvania became, in some ways, as segregated as the Jim Crow South. The fugitive slave issue, by reinforcing images of dependency, may have actually worked against the achievement of lasting social change.

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